Saucisse Espagnole is French, and translates to "Spanish Sausage" in English. This is something my French Canadian mother-in-law used to make a lot. She got the recipe from her mother-in-law, and we have no idea where she found the recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 to 1.5 pounds raw bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch strips (i.e. lardons)
2.5 pounds raw breakfast sausages (approximately)
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onion
Beer, beef stock, or water to delglaze the pan
7 to 10 cups tomato juice
6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Equipment Required
Large Dutch oven with lid (I used an 8-quart)
Two sheet pans
Aluminum foil (to line sheet pans for easier clean up)
Directions
Preheat oven to 250F.
In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until a lot of fat is rendered but it is not crispy and not completely cooked, between 10 and 15 minutes. Drain and place on a foil lined sheet pan. Place the sheet pan in the preheated oven to continue cooking and keep warm.
Drain all but a couple of tablespoons of bacon fat from the Dutch oven. I save my empty olive and pickle glass jars for this. If you plan on using the bacon fat for something else pour it into a clean storage container and store in the refrigerator.
Brown the breakfast sausages in batches, turning to brown evenly, and move to a foil lined sheet pan. The sausage may not be completely cooked at this point. Place the sheet pan in the oven.
Your Dutch oven will likely have a lot of brown "grunge" in the bottom of it by now. If there is more than a couple of tablespoons of fat in the pan, drain it, or the finished meal may be greasy.
Keeping the Dutch oven on medium heat, pour a small amount -- about 1/2 cup, just eyeball it -- of beef stock, beer, or water in the pan, and stir to scrape up the "grunge" from the bottom.
Add the chopped carrots, celery, and onions to the Dutch oven. Stir often, until the vegetables start to soften. Don't worry about cooking them through at this point as they'll continue to cook as the sauce simmers.
At this point, check the internal temperature of the sausages. If they're above 160F/72C, you can remove them from the oven and slice crosswise 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick (the slices will look like small coins). There is no need to measure the slices. If the sausages aren't cooked yet, you can return them to the oven to continue cooking, or you can add them whole to the sauce and slice them later.
Once you remove the sausage from the oven, the bacon should be cooked through. You can lower the oven to 180F if you want to keep the bacon warm, or just turn the oven off and leave the bacon inside.
Add 7 cups of tomato juice, the bay leaves, and the garlic. If you've already added the sausages, you want the juice to be about one inch above the vegetable and sausage mixture.
Bring the mixture to a simmer -- you'll see small bubbles rise to the surface. Partially cover, and lower the heat. Give it a stir every 15 minutes or so. Make sure the heat isn't too high because you don't want to burn it. If the mixture looks like it's drying up, add more tomato juice one cup at a time. As it simmers the mixture will thicken as water evaporates. Plan to simmer for two to three hours.
About one hour before serving, stir in the bacon. I added about two thirds, and saved the remaining bacon to garnish. Either option will be delicious!
Serve with mashed potatoes, polenta, or egg noodles.
